The present invention relates to a dispenser having a peripheral delivery mode, which dispenser is designed to be mounted on a container for liquids having high viscosity, such as gels, creams, pastes, etc.
Dispensers already exist in which a pump is mounted on the neck of a container so as to deliver the liquid via an axial passageway formed, in particular, by a spray tube.
Documents U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,035, FR 2 517 990, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,552 discloses dispensers for dispensing liquids, which dispensers are of the type comprising a bowl whose top edge is fixed to a collar for securing it to the neck of a container, the bottom of said bowl being provided with an inlet orifice equipped with a valve, and whose top is closed off by a piston that is urged back into its high position by a spring and that co-operates with the inside wall of the bowl to define a metering chamber.
However, such dispensers are not suitable for certain types of packaging, for which a final delivery mode that is peripheral or at the least lateral rather than axial is desired.
An object of the invention is to solve this technical problem satisfactorily.
The invention achieves this object by means of a dispenser characterized in that the wall of said chamber includes an annular zone, all or part of which is elastically deformable so as to act, under the effect of the pressure generated inside the chamber to release a passageway via which the liquid can be removed, which passageway opens out peripherally to the outside by passing around the inside edge of the collar which is frustoconical and slopes towards the center.
According to an advantageous characteristic, the inside face of said collar is provided with a groove which is defined on its radially-outermost side by a ring and in which the top edge of the neck is engaged and locked.
In a particular embodiment, the inside edge of said collar forms a high abutment for the piston, thereby retaining it in the bowl.
According to yet another characteristic, the outside face of the piston is provided with a central stud forming a pusher.
Preferably, the bowl is provided with ribs extending along the bottom portion of its inside side wall over a height that is sufficient to enable air to escape on priming, by the piston being forced to deform.
The inside face of the piston is provided with a central sleeve firstly guiding the spring coaxially, and secondly acting as an end-of-stroke abutment by abutting against the bottom of the bowl.
In addition, the dispenser of the invention is optionally provided with a vent in the form of a cutout in the top edge of the bowl.
In a first variant embodiment, said elastically-deformable annular zone is provided around the periphery of the piston by being constituted by a flexible lip whose free end abuts in leaktight manner against the inside side wall of the bowl when in the closed position.
In which case, where the outside face of the piston meets said lip, said outside face is provided with stiffener elements.
In a second variant, said elastically-deformable annular zone is situated on the side wall of the neck by being constituted by peripheral thinned portions suitable for being deformed elastically by the rigid edge of the piston.
In which case, the rigid edge of the piston has a side flank provided with a projection serving to come into deforming abutment against the deformable side wall of the bowl.
In another variant, said elastically-deformable zone is situated on the side wall of the bowl, and is constituted by a peripheral portion made of a flexible elastomer material that is optionally different from the rigid material constituting the other portions of the bowl.
In yet another variant, said elastically-deformable annular zone is constituted by a flexible lip firstly carried by the bottom end of a central cylinder secured to the piston and projecting into the metering chamber, and secondly co-operating with a peripheral scraper element fixed to the inside face of the piston.
In this case, starting from the lip, the passageway via which the liquid is removed is constituted firstly by the enclosure defined around the central cylinder by said scraper element and by said lip, and is constituted secondly by a set of vertical ducts provided around the periphery of said cylinder and communicating at their bottom ends with said enclosure and at their top ends with a set of transverse ducts opening out to the outside.
Also in this case, said lip slopes relative to the axis of the dispenser, and abuts against the radially-innermost edge of the scraper element when in the closed position.
The dispenser of the present invention is more particularly designed for viscous liquids for which it offers a delivery mode that is original and pleasing to the eye.
This dispenser has a structure that is simple, and it is therefore easy to make and to assemble.
It can be adapted very easily, depending on the embodiments, to suit both systems of the xe2x80x9catmosphericxe2x80x9d type and also systems of the xe2x80x9cairlessxe2x80x9d type.